


Know Where You Came From

by Js_Royal_King



Category: Church (Short Film 2019)
Genre: Ashivon is a hero in the end, F/M, Mentions Past Abuse, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:21:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21735226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Js_Royal_King/pseuds/Js_Royal_King
Summary: The kits of the village have always wondered about the couple on the outside of town. The fact that one was human was odd enough, but their teacher visited them all the time, and the demon that lived there was rarely seen, but all of the adults seemed to respect him a lot.
Relationships: Ashivon/Sanga
Comments: 6
Kudos: 82





	Know Where You Came From

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Emptyfeet](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Emptyfeet), [ToastyGlow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyGlow/gifts).



> If y'all haven't seen these animatics, please do (I'll post the link once I get home)  
> Church by Emptyfeet on youtube is absolutely amazing! I was so excited to see a second one was released!  
> Emptyfeet, I know you say you don't read Fanfics of you work but if you ever happen across this I am very impressed with your ability to create such an alive world and characters and story in just a few short minutes.  
> I love that they made it back to their race in the second video and had a quick thought about what living there long term would be like for them.  
> I hope you all enjoy! It's not the greatest, and not edited, but I just did it for fun.  
> If you love it, let me know!  
> If you hate it? That's cool.
> 
> Enjoy my Peeps

The young kits of the village were always curious about the two who lived on the outskirts of the village. Their teacher Tselah would often visit the two, but would never answer his students questions about them.

One of them was a human, not a totally uncommon sight as their town was convenient for traders and travellers, but she was the only one that lived there. She was seen much more often than the other, who would disappear for days or weeks at a time. She was often seen tending their small garden, chatting with neighbors, or occasionally she would be summoned to town to help when someone was injured. Because of this a few kits in the class had some interaction with her, either for births of younger siblings or for injuries for themselves or other family members. They were very safe in their little town, but accidents did happen.

The other occupant of the house was a mystery to the kits, but the adults held great respect for him, and Tselah seemed to regard him as a brother of sorts, though whenever questioned their teacher would veer onto a different topic. He was a demon like them, and looked pretty typical, the oddest thing about him was that he was always wearing a lot of clothes, even during the hot summers when the people of the town spent most of their time at the beach. He was almost never seen outside of his home, and when he did venture outside he was wandering by himself, or meekly following the human he lived with. Any of the adults that approached him did so respectfully and with great kindness, as if he was a dear relative, but no one knew who he was related to. The students best guess was that Tselah was a relative of some kind, Tselah own parents were very kind to the coupe, often bringing them gifts, but the mysterious older demons unique twisted horns said otherwise, you could pick out family’s by the shape of their horns. They had heard it said that the twisted horns were common among the northern settlements, but the mountain range splitting the land made travel hard.

For the most part, the couple was left in peace and to do as they please, the only evidence of a job, every demon was expected to help in the village, was when the human was called as a doctor. They traded food with their neighbors, but never participated in market days. During winter months the demon never joined the hunting parties as most males did, but they always seemed to have meat, though no one ever saw him leave or return with fresh game.

The children observed the couple for a while out of natural curiosity, and asked questions of their parents but when no answers were forthcoming they became even more curious. They set up a rotation to watch their house, followed the human on her few trips into the town square, tried to see where the demon went whenever he disappeared, but there was never any trace of him. When the older people of the town began to notice their interest they were warned to leave them alone, that they had had a hard life and deserved peace. They had done much for their town and did not owe them anything else. Instead of heeding the warning this only made the children even more curious.

After a few weeks, as winter began to approach the demon started venturing from his house more. As the human tended the garden, preparing for a final harvest before the first frost she would smile and wave as he passed, and they would gently brush hands, that was the first sign of affection they had seen from the two, but it was not surprising, considering they had lived together for as long as any of the kits had been alive. He would slowly wander into town, and stop at a house or two, be invited inside, and then leave a while later. Or he would chop some wood, or carry buckets of water from the well. He would run simple errands for the elders of their community. He just seemed to be being a good neighbor, but the children had never noticed him doing it before. Not one person who opened the door for him seemed to be surprised, some would bring him tea as he chopped wood, and he always turned down payment, it seemed to be a normal thing. The kit’s wondered if they had just never paid enough attention before, as he appeared to be avoiding attention, wearing a dark cloak and hiding his unique horns. 

Sometimes on these ventures he would just disappear into thin air, and the students would have to spend the next several hours searching for him before giving up and returning home. He was still an enigma. The human was very normal, kind and diligent about her chores, friendly with the neighbors, and any humans that would pass through and want to talk to the human that lived among demons.

As winter heavily settled in, blanketing the land with thick snow and threatening the freeze the harbor the kits began to give up, not willing to sit in the cold for hours on end. And they had something better to spend their time doing, as it became colder, the elders became reminiscent and would regal the young with tales of how their people settled here, how they crossed the mountains and sailed the seas, and many other stories, so with warm drinks they would gather around the fire and listen. Some of their favorite stories, that were very rarely told, were of a brave demon who crossed the desert, and sailed the seas, and would rescue other demons from all sorts of danger. He was their very own hero, the demons were a peaceful people, so any danger came from outside forces beyond their control, their hero would put a stop to it. He was unbelievably strong and a magnificent fighter, and he was always watching over them. Tselah always said that the stories were ridiculous and to not believe them, but when the lights were low and everyone would gather close around the elder while the wind howled outside he was just as entranced as any of them.

Tonight was one of the lucky nights that they go to hear one of the heroes’ stories, they had heard them all many times over by this point, but it was always like hearing it for the first time. The storm outside was raging and most of the town was holed up in the hall with the two fires burning bright and warm, and the doors and windows tightly shut to black out the cold. Some noticed that the mysterious human was there, talking with some mothers with young children, but the demon was not. They had long since given up on their quest for answers and instead focused on the story being told.

The story told tonight was a favorite among the kits, it was about an epic adventure that the hero undertook to save a young demon that had been kidnapped. He traveled far and fought many foes to find the young kit that was stolen from his home. Just as it got to the good part, where he escaped through a window and began his mad dash away from the fortress, the door of the hall burst open, immediately the temperature of the room dropped, the young began to cry and the adults helped the demon that had burst in, while others pushed the door shut against the wind. The demon was from the outside of town, a father to one of Tselah’s students, someone in their group. It was not uncommon for the family to miss events like this, preferring to keep their four children home during bad weather. There was a hurried conversation that Tselah joined, while the children were told to stay put. 

“My daughter, I cannot find her!” The demon wailed, loud enough for everyone to hear. “She went out to feed the chickens without me knowing, I told her to stay inside! That it was dangerous and that I would do it! The chicken hut is too far from the house, on the outside of the yard next to the forest. But she loves those chickens and snuck out to do it." He fell onto his knees, while the others tried to support him. “I searched for an hour, she is nowhere!”

Tselah and the human made eye contact, “I will go get Ashivon,” the human said while Tselah nodded in agreement.

“No!” yelled the elder that had been telling the story. “It is much too dangerous, she is a smart child and will find shelter, we will search in the morning. We cannot lose anyone else tonight.” 

The human stared down the elder with an unreadable look on her face before her hands met in front of her chest and she gave a short bow, the action made her loose sleeves draw back revealing thick tattoos circling her wrists, “Thank you for your opinion, elder.” Then she and Tselah yanked open the door and disappeared into the white while the elder yelled after them, and the father desperately trying to follow but he was weak from the cold and was easily restrained.

Once the door was boarded back up and more wood was added to the fire it was decided that a few would travel back to the family’s house, to wait with them incase Sadii made it back home. Another story was struck up in hopes of being distracting for the kits but after three failed attempts they were all told to go to sleep. They formed piles with their classmates, both to keep warm and to whisper among themselves. Who was Ashivon? Was it the mysterious demon? They’ve heard that name spoken before. Why wasn’t he here when his partner was? Why are they going to get him? As the night grew late and the storm continued to rage some fell asleep while the others continued to stare at the fire, that would be kept burning all night, wondering for their lost friend.

When the hour drew close to morning the door was thrown open once again, waking everyone that had managed to sleep with the bitterly cold air. A small group of people rushed in and immediately headed for one of the fires. The mothers in the room collected blankets and clothes to provide to them, while the children rubbed sleep out of their eyes, trying to see who it was, and hoping it was their lost friend.

It was indeed their missing classmate, cradled in the arms of her weeping father as he cried for her to wake up, but she was unresponsive. She had been carried in by the mysterious demon, who must be Ashivon, he was accompanied by Tselah and the human.

“Sanga, what can we do?” Someone asked as everyone tried to be helpful.

“Heat up some water, and make some lukewarm tea or broth” the human, Sanga, replied, “Not boiling, barely warm to the touch, anything hotter would burn them. Dry clothes and towels, rub circulation back into their arms, hands and feet, they fill into the river.” She pointed to three of the women, “You help Sadii, calm her father, he doesn’t need to panic.” She pointed to Tselah and another man, “help me with Ashivon, he needs to be changed as well.” They all got to work.

The kit’s stayed huddled together, watching silently as water was warmed and they desperately tried to get Sadii to wake up, and tried to keep Ashivon awake. They all gasped as they wet and frozen clothes were stripped from Ashivon’s back, revealing layers of old scars. They had never seen anything like it, they had only heard tales of slaves from over the seas that their skin was rough from old injuries. When he was stripped nearly bare and they began to rub him dry his head snapped up, teeth bared and he swung into action. He swiped wide with claws extended, trying to hurt, Sanga and Tselah expertly dodged, as if used to it. He sprung onto his feet and back up slowly and uncoordinated to a wall.

Everyone froze, even those that were helping Sadii, they all eyed Ashivon warily, but the adults did not seem frightened, only concerned.

Sanga, stayed low, still kneeling on the ground, “shhh, Ashivon, it’s alright, you’re safe, so is Sadii.” at the sound of the kit’s name Ashivon’s eyes snapped to the child he had saved, he dropped low into an aggressive crouch, and growled at those holding her, tail whipping back and forth. In the flickering firelight they could see the outlines of more scars crisscrossing on his arms, and whip thin muscles, very different from the bulky muscles their people developed while fishing and logging. He looked like one of the monsters the hero would fight.

Ashivon began to stalk towards the group holding Sadii, reminding the students of the big cats that traders would occasionally bring through the port, the children whimpered in fear, bringing his attention to them, which made them freeze, instinct telling them to appear non-threatening in the face of a predator. He stared them down, snarl fading from his lips, then glanced around the room, at all the people gathered in the dark hall, hiding from him and the storm.

"Ahsivon, look at me." He met the humans eyes, losing his his aggressive stance, relaxing, tail falling limp. "It's alright, you must be freezing, let us get you warm, Sadii will be okay." It was then as his shoulders dropped, and his whole body broke down in violent shivers that the rest of the room relaxed. They went back to work on rubbing the two dry, then wrapping them in layers of blankets and heaving them sip tea, there was a resounding sigh of relief as Sadii woke, drank some warm broth then fell into relaxed slumber.

Ashivon never relaxed enough to sleep, simply stayed curled into a ball, buried in blankets and stared into the flames, once both demons had ceased shivering Sanga and Tselah sat on either side of the scarred demon and leaned into him, lending their warmth.

It became clear, early in the morning, that no one except Sadii would be getting any more sleep that night so the stories began again. The story of the hero rescuing the young demon was started from the beginning through popular demand. As the story drew to a close, and the early morning sun began to peak through the clouds, the sunlight dancing upon Ashivon's twisted horns from the only window that had not been blocked of over the night, that the students realized that Ashivon was not a monster from the stories. As Sadii woke, cradled in her father's arms, and Ashivon smiled warmly at the young kit that was among them because of him, and her family burst through the door to reunite joyously. The class realized that he had been their hero all along.

  
  
  


Sanga watched as the young family reunited with their lost daughter, and sister. The night had been long and cold. One of Tselah’s students crept up to them, she thought it would be to speak with their teacher, but instead the young kit tugged on the blankets that were wrapped around Ashivon’s shoulders. Ashivon turned to look at the kit in surprise, the young of the village never approach him, no matter how much he cares for them.

“Mister hero, sir,” the kit began, the tips of Ashivon’s ears turned red, he hated those stories, Sanga and Tselah loved them, “Is it true that you saved everyone from a flood?”

Another kit chimed in “And did you save the town from evil pirates?

Sanga gripped Ashivon’s hand, hoping it would encourage him, it would do him good to speak with the kits, he thought they were so wonderful but was afraid to approach them himself, they were evidence that living a full happy life was possible, not everyone had to suffer as he did, and he did his best to keep it that way. He had told her about when they started stalking him around town, and some had even followed him into the woods, but they never approached to speak to him, he thought they were scared of him, she had tried to explain that they were just curious.

Tselah smiled at her from over the heads of the students, he was glad his students stalking phase would be over, but he wasn’t quite sure how he would deal with the hero-worship once it began, or if they realized that he was the kit that Ashivon had saved all those years ago, or that he was the young “squire” that would accompany him on journeys.

  
  



End file.
